'Casino Royale' Collector's Edition DVD Cover Artwork

Great news today for those eagerly anticipating the release of the three-disc collector’s edition of Casino Royale.

DVDActive have gotten the first look at the cover artwork that will accompany this release. The dark and moody cover of Daniel Craig as James Bond takes its cue from the teaser poster artwork for the film.

Also new is–finally–an announced Region 1 release date of 21 October 2008. The Region 4 release was recently reported on the CommanderBond.net main page as the 22nd of October.

The Casino Royale collector’s edition will be released on DVD and Blu-ray, retailing for $29.95 and $38.96, respectively.

The new cover artwork also advertises the fact that this release will include over seven hours of special features, putting it on par with the original Die Another Day DVD and improving greatly from the 90 minutes of extras that were on the first Casino Royale release.

In addition to ‘e-Movie Cash’ to catch Craig’s return as 007 in Quantum of Solace, the special features will include:

• The Road to Casino Royale
• Crew Commentary
• Second Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Paying Taxes
• Rescue & Recovery
• Old Boyfriend?
• James Bond in the Bahamas
• The Art of the Freerun
• Death in Venice
• Catching a Plane: From Storyboard to Screen
• Filmmaker Profiles
• Storyboard Sequence: Freerun Chase
• Ian Fleming: The Secret Road to Paradise
• Becoming Bond documentary
• James Bond: For Real Documentary
• Bond Girls are Forever (2006)
• Chris Cornell ‘You Know My Name’ Music Video

Pre-ordering links are forthcoming.

Stay tuned to the CBn main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of this Casino Royale collector’s edition DVD release.

MK12 Updates Fans On 'Quantum of Solace' Main Titles

Last month, CommanderBond.net first alerted readers that design company MK12 had been signed up to handle the main title sequence for Quantum of Solace.

Director Marc Forster had chosen the group for the 22nd James Bond film after previously working with them on his two most recent films, 2007’s The Kite Runner and 2006’s Stranger Than Fiction.

Since then, the company has posted an update of their own on their official website letting fans know about their progress on the 007 film as well as the fact that they’ll additionally be contributing to the Quantum of Solace game from Activision:

We’re currently hard at work on the next James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, directed by Marc Forster, starring Daniel Craig and produced by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.

We’re directing and designing the main title sequence and have just wrapped the 4-day shoot at Pinewood Studio’s stage D. The talent & crew were brilliant and we’re really appreciative of all the hard work and determination everyone brought to the set. While we can’t say much about it, we can say that we are very happy with what we shot and are now busy weaving it all together. The shoot was lensed by Simon Chaudoir. Have you seen his reel? Geez.

Also, we’re in charge of developing, designing & animating the graphical interfaces throughout the film. Watch the trailer to spot a sample of our work.

We’re revisiting those same designs as a foundation for the cinematics in Activision’s upcoming Quantum of Solace game, due out around the same time as the film. We’re also designing the game’s title sequence in collaboration with Zoic.

Quantum of Solace is out in cinemas October 31 in the UK and November 7 in the US.

MK12

This new update from MK12 seems to confirm that regular main title designer Daniel Kleinman won’t be participating on Quantum of Solace titles.

Kleinman, who first came to the world of Bond through his work on the Gladys Knight music video for 1989’s Licence to Kill, took over from Maurice Binder as main title designer and has contributed to all four of the Pierce Brosnan Bond films as well as Craig’s debut in Casino Royale.

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

Second 'Quantum of Solace' Teaser Poster Available For Purchase

After being unveiled as the second official teaser poster for Quantum of Solace earlier this month, James Bond fans can now purchase a copy of the poster for their collections.

Measuring 27×41 inches (69x104cm), the poster features the same artwork of Daniel Craig as 007 as first seen in the UK quad.

Moviemarket.co.uk is currently stocking double-sided and single-sided copies of the Quantum of Solace teaser poster. Click below to order:

• Buy the Quantum of Solace teaser poster (double-sided) from Moviemarket.co.uk ($34.99 / £24.99 / €34.99)
• Buy the Quantum of Solace teaser poster (single-sided) from Moviemarket.co.uk ($14.99 / £24.99 / €14.99)

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

MGM Confirm 21 October Release For 1967's 'Casino Royale'

MGM Home Entertainment is finally confirming the 21 October 2008 release date (first reported here on CommanderBond.net) for the 1967 spoof edition of Casino Royale.

This Collector’s Edition DVD for this unofficial James Bond film has experienced several delays since first being announced in mid-2007, but it appears now that it is finally on the way.

Casino Royale
Collector’s Edition DVD

Bond, James Bond. MGM Home Entertainment presents the surrealistic satire of one of the most recognized characters in film history when Casino Royale: Collector’s Edition rolls the dice on DVD October 21. Starring David Niven (The Pink Panther, Death on the Nile) as the world famous secret agent, Casino Royale follows an aging Bond as he is called out-of retirement after members of Her Majesty’s Secret Service turn up dead. To combat the villainous Le Chiffre, the man responsible for these crimes, Bond recruits six more “James Bonds” in order to confuse the enemy and create overall chaos. In the end it might not be enough when Bond must faces everything from deadly female operatives to exploding fowl sent to stop him.

Packed with girls, guns and gags galore, Casino Royale features an all-star cast including Peter Sellers (The Pink Panther, Dr. Strangelove), Orson Welles (Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil), William Holden (Network, The Wild Bunch), John Huston (Chinatown, The Cardinal), Woody Allen (Annie Hall, Manhattan) and many more, as well as an Oscar nominated song from the legendary Burt Bacharach. Special features include audio commentary from Bond historians Steven Jay Jay Rubin and John Cork, a “making of” documentary and five all-new featurettes. The Casino Royale: Collector’s Edition DVD will be available in widescreen for the suggested retail price of $19.98 US/$21.98 Canada. Prebook is September 24, 2008.

Casino Royale
Collector’s Edition Synopsis

Welcome to Casino Royale, the ultimate psychedelic secret agent satire! Packed with girls, guns and gags galore, this “very funny picture” (The New Yorker) delivers “laughs all the way”(Cue)! Starring Peter Sellers, Ursula Andress, David Niven, Joanna Pettet, Orson Welles, Daliah Lavi, Woody Allen, Deborah Kerr, William Holden and others, and with an original score from Oscar winner Burt Bacharach, this groovy spy movie is “even farther out” (LA Herald-Examiner) than all other spoofs combined! British Intelligence is waning in every possible way! When the diabolical SMERSH begins killing off Her Majesty’s Secret Service, super-agent James Bond (Niven) recruits six more “James Bonds” to confuse and conquer their enemies. But it won’t be easy. They’ll have to face an army of irresistibly sexy female operatives, exploding robotic fowl, parachuting Indians and a germ that makes all women beautiful but kills all men over 4’6″!

Casino Royale
Collector’s Edition Bonus Features

• Commentary with James Bond historians Steven Jay Rubin and John Cork
• The Making of Casino Royale
• Bond, James Bond?
• A 3 Ring Circus
• More Directors, More Stars
• The Big Climax
• It’s a Wrap!
• Theatrical Trailer
• Photo Gallery

• Order the Casino Royale (1967) 40th Anniversary DVD from Amazon.com

CBn will keep you updated with all the latest news and information regarding this upcoming DVD edition of 1967’s Casino Royale.

Book Tour For Sir Roger Moore's 'My Word Is My Bond'

CommanderBond.net Forum member ‘Lady Templar’ alerts us to the news that Sir Roger Moore is planning a massive book tour to promote his upcoming autobiography, My Word Is My Bond, due for release this October.

The tour is slated to begin on Friday, 10 October with an appearance on the Friday Night with Jonathan Ross talkshow and will then be followed by events at the National Film Theatre (further details available here), the National Theatre Platform Event, a gala event at Pinewood Studios as well as book signings in London, Kent, Norwich, Oxford and Cheltenham.

Additionally, Moore will be taking his My Word Is My Bond tour global with events in Paris, New York, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Auckland, Holland and Finland.

It’s definitely shaping up to be a memorable collection of events. Keep watching the CBn main page for continued coverage.

My Word is My Bond will be published on 2 October in the UK and 4 November in the US. Pre-order online:

• Order the UK hardback edition of My Word is My Bond from Amazon.co.uk
• Order the UK paperback edition of My Word is My Bond from Amazon.co.uk
• Order the US hardback edition of My Word is My Bond from Amazon.com

'Quantum of Solace' Video Featurette #4 Hits The Net

The fourth official video featurette for Quantum of Solace, the 22nd James Bond film, has hit the net today.

Running for roughly two-and-a-half minutes, the video features interviews with cast and crew including, Daniel Craig, Marc Forster, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, and others. Furthermore, viewers get another behind-the-scenes look at some of the film’s sequences.

Watch Quantum of Solace Video Featurette #4 Online

‘There’s all this sort of stuff that goes around when making a Bond movie,’ Craig starts off. ‘You know, we made a very successful movie last time and everyone’s going to be looking to this one to see what the outcome is.’

Craig continues: ‘That puts a lot of pressure on a director. I know it puts a lot of pressure on me, but our only criteria is that we have to make a good movie that we can look back on in ten years time and go: “we’re very proud of it”.’

‘You set the tone as the director’, states Marc Forster. ‘You try to create the magic, but then the vision of the film as you set it; the locations you choose, the casting you do, how you work with the actors suddenly overtakes you and you become alive and almost flow within that.’

‘You have this enormity of different locations, of action, of all these things to do and achieve in a certain amount of time and you just have to take it step-by-step. I’m not really think about the end, I’m thinking about the moment I’m shooting today.’

‘His real ability is storytelling,’ remarked Craig on how Forster has approached this Bond film. ‘Having someone at the helm who’s controlling how we emotionally enjoy the movie is a big weight off my mind.’

Gemma Arterton, who stars as Agent Fields in Quantum of Solace, offered similar praise for Forster’s directorial style.

‘Working with Marc has just been brilliant,’ she said, ‘he let’s you do what you do as an actor, which makes you feel really confident and you can put your own little mark on things.’

‘It’s a James Bond film, but it’s a Marc Forster film also,’ said Mathieu Amalric (who stars as the villainous Dominic Greene). ‘Anything can happen, you know, the work is alive and fresh.’

Olga Kurylenko (Bond girl Camille) agreed as well: ‘You know, I can imagine how much pressure he has because he’s the director. And he’s just always being so calm.’

‘Marc is the type of director who likes to get it out of the studio and go to real locations to capture the atmosphere there,’ added producer Michael G. Wilson.

And if Craig’s concluding comments are anything to go by, it appears that Quantum of Solace will certainly continue the massive success that 2006’s Casino Royale sparked: ‘I’m incredibly excited by what we’ve done. I look at the trailer which we’ve just finished and I think we’ve got something really special.’

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

'Quantum of Solace' – Official Blog Report #18

The official Quantum of Solace blog has been updated today with another crew member from the 22nd James Bond 007 film: stuntman Ben Cooke.

‘I’m a stuntman and I pretty much take care of Daniel [Craig],’ says Cooke in his introduction.

‘I start six to eight weeks before principal shooting. Gary [Powell–stunt coordinator] sort of tells us what he wants and we go away to prepare things and get Daniel in there working with the stunts.’

‘We want it to have a certain look and feel and we want it to be realistic, but someone who’s still obviously had the training as well. We weren’t afraid for Bond to get hit.’

‘[Craig’s] probably got about three to four doubles. There’s a few reasons why he has that number of doubles: there’s two units running, there’s people who have got better skills in different fields. You push the effects to the limits so you want to get the right person for the job.’

Stay tuned to the CommanderBond.net main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

James Bond And Bregenz Festival Footage Available By Satellite

A new press release highlights the forthcoming release of footage from the Bregenz Festival this Wednesday, 23 July. In addition to the festival opening, footage of the ‘Tosca’ opera as well as Quantum of Solace interviews and clips will also be included.

As many 007 fans are well aware, sequences of the 22nd James Bond film were shot at the floating Seebühne stage on Lake Constance this past May.

The full press release follows below:

Footage of Bregenz Festival and James Bond Available by Satellite

Opera “Tosca”, Opening Ceremony and James Bond in Two Short Versions for TV Channels

Satellite broadcast directly after the opening of the festival on 23 July 2008, from 1:30 – 1:50 p.m. (British Summer Time BST (= London Time) / 8:30 – 8:50 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time EDT (= New York City Time)

Pre-Cut TV Material by Satellite Downlink

The Bregenz Festival will make footage available to television stations for the purpose of media coverage of the festival. The pre-cut material – not overvoiced – will be available for downlink by satellite in Europe and North America on the opening day of the 63rd Bregenz Festival, 23 July, starting at 2:30 p.m. CEST (see below for international time zones).

Opera “Tosca” Opening Ceremony and James Bond

The footage is supplied in two versions of differing length: 2’45” (news item) and 5’00” (feature). Both versions include the edit decision list and text to accompany the images. They show excerpts from the opera Tosca on the world’s largest floating stage at Bregenz (Austria), which premieres on the evening of 23 July, as well as film of the opening ceremony of the Bregenz Festival in the morning.

In addition the TV material includes interviews and clips from the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace, some sequences of which were shot on the spectacular opera set on Lake Constance in May.

Broadcast on EUTELSAT W1 and INTELSAT 3R

The TV material will be broadcast in two repeated sequences on 23 July 2008 from 2:30 to 2:50 p.m. CEST (12:30 to 12:50 p.m. UTC) on EUTELSAT W1 (Europe) and INTELSAT 3R (North America). The technical specifications are shown under http://www.pressefoyer.com/mc4/index_en.html; edit decision lists and image texts will follow on 23 July in the afternoon. The footage is free of charge if used by broadcasters in the provision of current media coverage of the Bregenz Festival. No other use is permitted.

• Coordinated Universal Time UTC 12:30 – 12:50 p.m.
• Central European Summer Time CEST (= Berlin Time) 2:30 – 2:50 p.m.
• British Summer Time BST (= London Time) 1:30 – 1:50 p.m.
• Eastern Daylight Time EDT (= New York City Time) 8:30 – 8:50 a.m.
• Pacific Daylight Time PDT (= Los Angeles Time) 5:30 – 5:50 a.m.

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for the most up-to-date and complete coverage of Quantum of Solace.

Sir Roger Moore Discussion And Book Signing In October '08

Sir Roger Moore is scheduled to make an appearance at London’s National Theatre in October for a discussion and book signing to mark the publication of his memoirs, My Word Is My Bond.

The UNICEF ambassador and former James Bond star will be discussing his illustrious career, including his well-known roles in The Saint, The Persuaders! as well as his iconic portrayal of 007.

The discussion will then be followed by a book signing.

The event will take place at the Lyttelton Theatre on Thursday, 16 October 2008.

For further details and to purchase tickets, visit the official National Theatre website.

My Word is My Bond will be published on 2 October in the UK and 4 November in the US. Pre-order online:

• Order the UK hardback edition of My Word is My Bond from Amazon.co.uk
• Order the UK paperback edition of My Word is My Bond from Amazon.co.uk
• Order the US hardback edition of My Word is My Bond from Amazon.com

Keep watching the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest news from the world of James Bond.

Smirnoff Vodka Reunites With James Bond

Smirnoff Vodka today announced it will reteam with James Bond this year in celebration of the release of Quantum of Solace.

To coincide with the release of the movie, Smirnoff will release three new three new 007-themed cocktails, in addition to planning a range of other events.

The announcement marks nearly fifty years of association between the two brands.

The full press release follows.

A Clearly Original Cocktail: One Part SMIRNOFF(R) Vodka and One Part 007 Mixed in a Quantum of Solace

NEW YORK, July 18, 2008 – “The name is Bond; James Bond,” declares the world’s favorite secret agent 007 in the suspenseful conclusion of Casino Royale, leaving audiences at the edge of their seats. Thirty cinematic minutes later, Bond returns in the thrilling sequel, Quantum of Solace. The film, produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli for EON Productions and distributed by Sony Pictures Entertainment, is due for theatrical release in November 2008. SMIRNOFF(R), the world’s largest selling premium spirit brand, also makes a major return – as an official partner – marking almost 50 years of history between the two iconic brands.

The latest 007 installment promises to offer the ingredients of what is sure to be another Bond classic: world travel, Bond women and “Vesper” vodka martinis. To give SMIRNOFF drinkers around the world a taste of the Bond lifestyle, SMIRNOFF is planning 007-worthy activities all over the world, from VIP premieres to the best cocktail recipes.

“Almost half a century after the debut of 007, SMIRNOFF is still Bond’s vodka of choice,” said Philip Gladman, global senior vice-president of SMIRNOFF at Diageo. “The two bold brands are true originals that only get better with time. That’s why SMIRNOFF and Bond are such a natural fit and that’s why our legacy lives on.”

SMIRNOFF Vodka made its original appearance alongside Bond in Dr. No, the first James Bond movie which premiered in 1962. Sean Connery’s request for a “martini, shaken not stirred” made with SMIRNOFF vodka introduced a vodka-based alternative to the traditional martini and a new way to make 007’s favorite cocktail.

Inspired by Quantum of Solace, SMIRNOFF has created three new drinks to update the character’s namesake cocktail — The Vesper, the 007 Shaken Not Stirred Martini and the Quantum of Solace are the newest SMIRNOFF cocktails designed to capture the essence of Bond’s vodka of choice.

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for the latest James Bond news.